Acrylic Glues ???????

[brian fithian]

Anyone know of a better glue to use on acrylic ? The glue I have been using shows through the pieces or on the edges. Someone told me about a glue that welds the acrylic together and almost evaporates any run off. Has anyone ever used this or know what it's called?

[Martin Boekers]

It's called Weld-On they have it in a few different reaction times, it's not easy to use,
It isn't a glue per say but a solvent that axctually melts the two pieces together.
It started to work by "lack of Oxogen so as soon athe the pieces fit that's it!

Good luck with it!

[Steve Clarkson]

Brian, it would help if you told us what glue you were currently using. However, are you asking about WeldOn?

[Mike Null]

Brian

I think you're talking about solvent cement branded Weld-On. I use #4 which I buy from JDS Industries. There are some shipping restriction with this solvent.

The stuff evaporates rapidly and has a nasty odor. It works by dissolving the area of acrylic that it has been aplied to. Using it carefully will produce an invisible bond.

See the Tap Plastics web site for some tutorials.

[brian fithian]

Thanks Guys.... That was it, Weld-On. I will pick some up from JDS and give it a try...

[Richard Rumancik]

. . . I will pick some up from JDS and give it a try...

and then, practice, practice, practice.

I can't say that I have seen very many solvent welds that look that good for awards and decorative items. At the best it tends to make a functional bond that it often adequate for POP displays etc that are not viewed up close. They also tend to age with time and look worse. I have seen a lot of poor looking joints on POP displays. It is very difficult to get a uniform-looking bond and 100% yield. The "run-off" will evaporate but will leave a mark so you can't assume that excessive solvent won't cause issues. You might have the best luck using a syringe but you will need good fixturing. You could also consider masking adjacent areas to prevent accidents especially while learning (one drop on the surface will leave a mark and ruin the part.)

Another problem you may have is perpendicularity. If you are getting very accurate 90 degree angles then solvent bonding may work satisfactorily. But with thicker materials you can get some angle to the cut which will make the angled cut very obvious in the assembly. Solvent adhesives do not have very good gap-filling capabilities, although there are some that have fillers (such as dissolved acrylic) in them.

If you get disillusioned with solvent bonding, one other option you could consider is UV activated adhesives. This is assuming the materials are UV transparent. If you call your local Loctire rep they may be able to do a few tests for you or supply a small sample to try and you coudl decide if the results are satisfactory. The advantage of UV activated adhesives is that you have more time to fixture the parts before turning on the light to initiate bonding.

[Mike Null]

Richard

I disagree with your remarks as I generally get a very good looking joint. I do not use a fixture but I do use a syringe and I apply a generous (rather than a sparse) amount of solvent to the joint. The joint must be clean and flat for best results--even slightly scuffed seems to work well.

Drops can be successfully cleaned if wiped up carefully and promptly. I have seen no evidence of aging on joints I have made.

I don't make POP displays so my remarks deal with awards only.

The example shown has no bubbles or voids and is a perfect joint. I don't always make perfect joints but they look very good and it is rare when I reject one though I will if it doesn't measure up.

[Martin Boekers]

Richard

I disagree with your remarks as I generally get a very good looking joint. I do not use a fixture but I do use a syringe and I apply a generous (rather than a sparse) amount of solvent to the joint. The joint must be clean and flat for best results--even slightly scuffed seems to work well.

Drops can be successfully cleaned if wiped up carefully and promptly. I have seen no evidence of aging on joints I have made.

I don't make POP displays so my remarks deal with awards only.

The example shown has no bubbles or voids and is a perfect joint. I don't always make perfect joints but they look very good and it is rare when I reject one though I will if it doesn't measure up.

Mike, I have never had consistant results, maybe I need to use a "slower setting" version. It is durable though, you will break the piece before it
unsticks! I have air pockets that sort of look silvery, I imagine it's becuase the surface aren't exactly smooth. Do you sand the surfaces first?

Marty

[Michael Hunter]

If you get disillusioned with solvent bonding, one other option you could consider is UV activated adhesives. This is assuming the materials are UV transparent. If you call your local Loctire rep they may be able to do a few tests for you or supply a small sample to try and you coudl decide if the results are satisfactory. The advantage of UV activated adhesives is that you have more time to fixture the parts before turning on the light to initiate bonding.

I spent yesterday afternoon glueing pieces of glass to acrylic blocks using Loctite UV glue. It is terrific stuff - thin enough to creep through the joint by capillary action yet with enough "body" to fill small gaps. The finished joints were absolutely invisible. A bonus is that if anything goes wrong before exposure, you can wash it off and start over without any risk of spoiling the acrylic. I think the type number was 3491 (will check on this tomorrow) - expensive, but highly recommended.

BTW, I used a nail parlour UV lamp unit for exposure - it cost me £15.80 new BIN from fleabay and works well.

[Paul Phillips]

I have a local acrylic supplier that also does custom acrylic fabrication, they make furniture and art pieces that of are amazing quality. As I occasionally do some some custom cutting for them on my CNC, I get to see how some things are done,and they use exclusively Weld-on products and for perfect-transparent laminations they use #40 2-part glue, the idea is that the thicker glue does fill the voids and when done right leaves no bubbles or visible defects. Of course their experience and technique makes it look easy, but it can be done. Lot's of good info on the Weld-on website.
http://www.ipscorp.com/assembly/acrylic
Hope this helps,
Paul

[Mike Null]

Marty

I usually clean both surfaces with dna. I do sometimes lightly sand the bottom of the award but not often. It is important to apply enough solvent to fill voids.

Most of my awards come from Tropar and the edge quality is good.

That #40 stuff looks interesting.

[Jerome Stanek]

We use a hypodermic syringe to apply it like one for insulin.